US Senate Agriculture Committee Advances Crypto Market Structure Bill

US lawmakers began a key markup session Thursday morning on a long-awaited crypto market structure bill, marking a pivotal step in Congress’ effort to establish clearer rules for digital asset markets.

The bill has been months in the making and follows sustained pressure from the crypto industry and some lawmakers to move beyond enforcement-led regulation.

Catch up quick:

• Lawmakers voted on three amendments to the market structure bill, all of which failed along party lines

• Democrats at the markup pushed for bipartisan solutions and ethics provisions to address potential conflicts of interest

• Senator Cory Booker said “we do not want to be criminalizing people who are writing code” as part of the bill

• The committee voted to advance the bill by 12 to 11 along party lines

Our live coverage has ended.

Jan. 29 5:05 pm UTC

Industry reacts to bill advancing

“The Senate is laser-focused on getting market structure legislation right, and we thank all the lawmakers and stakeholders from across the crypto community who have put in the time and effort to get us to this point,” said Mason Lynaugh, community director of the digital asset advocacy organization Stand With Crypto.

“This bill would provide CFTC spot market authority for digital commodities, clear rules for intermediaries, and robust consumer protections, including listing standards, disclosure requirements, and safeguards for customer property,” said Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim, referring to the market structure bill.

“We’re close to the finish line, and now is the moment for leaders on both sides of the aisle to come together and get this done,” said Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of the National Venture Capital Association.

Jan. 29 4:52 pm UTC

Market structure bill advances from agriculture committee

In just about an hour, with only votes on three amendments that failed along party lines, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted 12 to 11 to advance the digital asset market structure bill, setting it up for a floor vote in the full chamber sometime in the future. Lawmakers on both sides noted that the committee would need to combine its bill with the draft under consideration in the Senate Banking Committee before a vote.

“Merging this with the Banking Committee’s text—and doing so on a bipartisan basis—is the only way to get this over the finish line,” said Kevin Wysocki, head of policy at Anchorage Digital, in a statement shared with Cointelegraph.

Boozman released a statement after the vote:

“This is a critical step toward creating clear rules for digital asset markets. Advancing this bill brings us closer to a US regulatory framework that protects consumers while allowing American innovation and businesses to thrive.”

Jan. 29 4:41 pm UTC

Durbin amendment on crypto bailouts fails

Lawmakers also voted along party lines against an amendment proposed by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who suggested that federal agencies “not provide financial assistance to a digital asset commodity intermediary to prevent the failure or bankruptcy of the digital asset commodity intermediary.” Durbin pointed to the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, leading to the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank.

“Nothing in the bill would grant the CFTC authority to provide assistance to an intermediary in the event of bankruptcy,” said Boozman, adding that “a specific prohibition is unnecessary.”

Jan. 29 4:38 pm UTC

Committee votes along party lines against ethics amendment

In a 12 to 11 vote against adopting an amendment proposed by Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, the committee chose not to incorporate ethics provisions into the crypto market structure bill. According to Bennet, the amendment was intended to prevent elected officials from profiting off the crypto industry.

Jan. 29 4:20 pm UTC

Democrats focus on ethics provisions, bipartisan solutions

Senators Adam Schiff and Elissa Slotkin, both Democrats, emphasized the need for bipartisanship in their comments to the agriculture committee, but reiterated Booker’s remarks about the need for ethics provisions. Slotkin also expressed concerns about national security and the leadership of the CFTC, where only Chair Michael Selig sits in a panel meant for five people.

“Handing over responsibility for oversight of this bill to one guy, who in his own confirmation hearing in front of our committee was very open about being very pro-crypto industry, just doesn’t give confidence that, again, we’re gonna have appropriate balanced oversight on a very new issue,” said Slotkin.

Jan. 29 4:07 pm UTC

“We do not want to be criminalizing people who are writing code,” Booker says

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker laid out some of his and Democrats’ goals for the market structure bill, including having the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CFTC “coordinate and collaborate” on crypto rulemaking and protections for self-custody and innovative technology.

“We do not want to be criminalizing people who are writing code,” said Booker.

The senator shared his frustration over the lack of bipartisan participation in the most recent version of the bill, compared to the draft he and Boozman released in November. Booker said he had been engaging with stakeholders as recently as Wednesday evening to address provisions on decentralized finance, and took aim at US President Donald Trump’s involvement in the crypto legislation.

“The White House has made this infinitely harder […] the fact that Donald Trump is grifting on crypto himself,” said Booker, adding: “This is ridiculous that the President of the United States and his family have made billions of dollars off this industry and are still trying to make a framework here without the kind of ethics that would prevent this kind of gross corruption in our country.”

Jan. 29 3:46 pm UTC

Chair Boozman and ranking member Klobuchar give opening remarks

Committee Chair John Boozman and ranking member Amy Klobuchar addressed lawmakers before considering amendments on Thursday. According to Boozman, the committee had made “really significant progress” on the market structure bill, but noted that any efforts had to be combined with those in the Senate Banking Committee, which postponed its own markup after Coinbase said it could not support its version of the bill as written.

Klobuchar added that there had been “good” progress on the bill, but not enough to gain bipartisan support, including on provisions to prevent lawmakers from engaging with the crypto industry. Her remarks signaled that she would be pushing her amendment to have the CFTC have at least four Senate-confirmed commissioners before the market structure bill would be effective:

“We can’t give this CFTC this broad new authority when it only has one member, one Republican member.”

Jan. 29, 3:32 pm UTC

Lawmakers on the Senate Agriculture Committee expected to vote on 11 amendments

The digital asset market structure bill, called the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act in the Senate Agriculture Committee, will be under consideration as lawmakers vote on amendments related to leadership at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), ethics, and foreign interference in US markets. Although an amendment proposed by Senator Roger Marshall related to credit card swipe fees is still on the committee’s schedule, reports suggested that he would not push for such provisions in the bill.